Will My Breast Cancer Come Back? Reducing the Risk of Breast Cancer Recurrence After Surgery

More than 215,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer every year. For many of them, surgery to remove the tumor is just the first step in the battle against the disease, often followed by radiation and/or chemotherapy. After that, these women may need to decide with their doctor whether to have "adjuvant therapy"-medication to help prevent their cancer from coming back.

When a woman's breast cancer does come back or spreads to other parts of the body, she may be at greater risk of dying from the disease. Women whose breast cancer is detected in the nearby lymph nodes at diagnosis and those who receive chemotherapy after surgery are considered to be at increased risk for breast cancer recurrence.

Postmenopausal women whose early-stage breast cancer is hormone-sensitive have a new option as their first hormone therapy following surgery. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved Femara® (letrozole tablets) on December 28, 2005 for this type of use. This approval was based on a median of 24 months of treatment. The study is still ongoing to determine the long-term safety and efficacy of Femara. Already a leading breast cancer treatment, Femara is now the only medicine in a group called aromatase inhibitors that is approved for use both immediately following surgery and after five years of tamoxifen. The FDA granted Femara a priority review, a distinction reserved for medications that could potentially offer a significant improvement compared to products currently on the market.

A panel from the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the country's leading group of oncologists, recommends aromatase inhibitors, such as Femara, be part of the optimal adjuvant treatment for this group of women.

"One of the greatest fears confronted by women who have been treated for early breast cancer is that their cancer will come back. With Femara, we now have an option that can help address that fear early on, even in patients who we know face the greatest risk of recurrence," said Matthew Ellis, MD, PhD, FRCP, director of the Breast Cancer Program at Washington University in St. Louis.

In a large clinical study of post-surgery breast cancer treatment, researchers compared the effectiveness of Femara and tamoxifen, another drug prescribed after surgery. An analysis performed after 26 months showed that Femara reduced the risk of breast cancer coming back by 21% over the reduction offered by tamoxifen. Patients taking Femara also showed a 27 percent reduction in the risk of the cancer spreading to distant parts of the body.

In this study, women at increased risk of recurrence experienced the greatest benefit from Femara. Femara lowered this risk by 29 percent in women whose breast cancer had already spread to the lymph nodes at the time of diagnosis and by 30 percent in women who had prior chemotherapy. The results also showed that in these high-risk women, Femara reduced the risk of cancer spreading to distant parts of the body by 33 percent and 31 percent, respectively.

In this study, Femara was generally well tolerated with the most common side effects including hot flashes, joint pain, night sweats, weight gain and nausea.

Tips for Living Healthy

Discuss postsurgery treatment options with an oncologist. Whether you're one, five or 10 years beyond your diagnosis, taking care of your overall health and well-being can also reduce your risk of cancer coming back and give you the energy to do the things in life that you love.

• Practice good nutrition

• Exercise regularly

• Tap into a support network

• Take time out for yourself

Editors Note: Important safety information

Femara® (letrozole tablets) is approved for the adjuvant (following surgery) treatment of postmenopausal women with hormone receptor−positive early breast cancer. The benefits of Femara in clinical trials are based on 24 months of treatment. Further follow-up will be needed to determine long-term results, safety and effectiveness.

Talk to your doctor if you're allergic to Femara or any of its ingredients. You should not take Femara if you are pregnant as it may cause fetal harm. You must be postmenopausal to take Femara. Some women reported fatigue and dizziness with Femara. Until you know how it affects you, use caution before driving or operating machinery. There was an increase in cholesterol in patients on Femara versus tamoxifen (5.4% vs. 1.2%).

In the adjuvant setting, commonly reported side effects were generally mild to moderate. Side effects seen in Femara versus tamoxifen included hot flashes (33.7% vs. 38%), joint pain (21.2% vs. 13.5%), night sweats (14.1% vs. 13.5%), weight gain (10.7% vs. 12.9%) and nausea (9.5% vs. 10.4%). Other side effects seen were bone fractures and osteoporosis.

About the Author:
Wade Gibson
More information is at 1-866-4FEMARA or www.femara.com or www.us.novartisoncology.com.
Article Source: http://www.articles2k.com

Is Your Back Pain Symbolic Of Future Lung Cancer?

The reasons for back pain are many and the symptoms of lung cancer are many more.

Whether you have lung cancer due to back pain or back pain due to lung cancer…the symptoms are so confusing and inter-related, that at times, the diagnosis becomes even more complicated.

Many a times, the cough or shortness of breath is accompanied by back pain. And you had thought that it is a respiratory illness! This could be the early stage of cancer and the right time and state to treat it indeed!

Pain in back, chest or shoulder that does not go away and gets worse with deep breathing, accompanied by swelling in the neck and face, with increasing fatigue and weakness could be the symptoms of cancer in the lung. And the underlying back pain will cause you recurring respiratory infections such as pneumonia along.

Figures and statistics from the USA regarding the back pain are mind boggling. It is reported that 80% of the Americans cope with back pain at some point of their lives. 7 million people are treated for back pain every year. The new cases of pack pain reported every year are 2 million. The loss/amount spent every year on medical bills, disability and lost productivity at work is estimated to be 100 billion dollars!

There is so much confusion with regard to the treatment of the back pain itself…that the back pain related to lung cancer is ought to be confusing for the patient. The first step you need to take when it is a case of continuous back pain is to have a detailed medical checkup. Instead of doing guesswork, and trying out various antibiotics, pain-killers and taking pot shots at the state of your health, you need to adopt a line of treatment. This definitely must be followed over the preliminary investigation stage.

No over the counter medication has cured any back pain completely. If your back pain is confirmed to be of the chronic type, it is most likely to trouble you over a long period of time.

You need to prevent your back pain from getting into the lung cancer fold. To fight lung cancer, what is required is you need to have perfect metabolism within your body. No diseases can come at your back or any other parts of your body, if your internal system is free of toxins. So adopt healthy lifestyle changes and resort to yoga exercises as they are the perfect treatment for back pain. This is now accepted world over.

About the Author:
Javier Fuller
To read more articles on Back pain and lung cancer, Living with backpain and Diagnosis of backpain visit http://www.backpaindetails.com/pain/
Added: 16 Oct 2006
Article Source: http://articles.simplysearch4it.com/article/39529.html

Overall Risk of Cancer Cut By 37%...

What do you think about this?

* Overall cancer risk reduced by 37%
* Overall reduction in cancer mortality rates by 50%
* 30% reduction of colorectal cancer.

Sounds like the sort of claims someone standing on a soapbox trying to sell snake oil would make... but SURPRISE... these statements are coming from the mainstream... and the results are from simple natural multi-vitamins NOT pharmaceutical drugs!

But that is not all! It is now being said that if everyone over 65 took a multi every day that the US taxpayer would save $1.6 billion over 5 years in Medicare costs due to a reduced incidence of coronary artery disease and other diseases triggered by weak immune systems.

These figures do NOT factor in the financial savings brought about by the reduction of colorectal cancer, diabetes, prostate cancer and a whole host of other ailments that can likely be avoided through proper nutritional supplementation. If these were factored in then the savings would be MUCH greater.

OK... who is saying these things?

Earlier this month there was a conference in Washington DC entitled "Multivitamins and Public Health: Exploring the Evidence."

Presented at this conference were the results of a study just completed by the Lewin Group (a health care consulting firm). It was funded by Wyeth Consumer Healthcare which is part of Wyeth Pharmaceutical Group. This is what the researchers did:

They analyzed more than 125 clinical studies plus scientific literature to determine whether or not multivitamins gave any health benefits and if so, whether these benefits translated into savings in healthcare bills for people 65 years of age or older.

The director of the Lewin Group, Allen Dobson, PhD put the study results into perspective when he said, "finding any cost savings for preventative measures is unusual and finding cost savings of this magnitude ($1.6B) is very rare."

It is a refreshing turn around for someone associated with 'mainstream' medicine to actually concede that preventive measures actually do work. As you have probably noticed over the last couple of years there have been many misleading statements from spokespeople in the 'mainstream' medical field doing their best to discourage people from the use of natural preventive remedies.

More positive 'mainstream' comments...

The positive 'mainstream' comment doesn't end with this study! During the same week that the conference in Washington was held the results of another study was published in the American Journal of Epidermiology which is a 'mainstream' publication. This was a study carried out by Harvard during the last twenty years.

The results will no doubt annoy many opponents of natural preventive medicines but the facts speak for themselves. Here are the highlights:

* The study involved approximately 145,000 middle aged or elderly adults.
* In 1982 these adults were surveyed regarding their multi-vitamin use.
* Their use was reassessed 10 years later in 1992.
* They were then followed up again over the next five years.
* During that period 797 of the participants developed colorectal cancer.

What the researchers found is that after adjusting for 'health conscious' behaviors those participants that had regularly used multi vitamins since the start of the study (at least 10 years) had a 30% decreased risk of developing colon/rectal cancer.

They also found that those people who had only recently started taking supplements had no protection in the short term and that the benefits only manifested themselves over the long term. This is an important point to remember. Start early not later. Increasing your immunity from cancer is a steady building up process over the long term.

This study ties in with another well known study in which selenium (in the correct form) was found to reduce the incidence of all cancers by 37% and overall mortality from cancer by 50%.

These two studies only deal with vitamins and one mineral. They do not include the many reputable studies that have clearly established antioxidants on their own also play a major role in cancer prevention. Unfortunately most people never get to hear about most of these studies. If they did and they acted upon it a lot of pain and suffering could be avoided.

Now here is something to think about!

If the risk of cardiovascular disease and other diseases brought on by poor immunity can be reduced significantly by a simple multi vitamin, and further, that the risk of colon/rectal cancer can be also reduced by 30% through multi-vitamins, and in addition, if the risk of other cancers can be reduced by 37% by just one mineral,selenium.

What would happen to your overall risk profile if you did the following?

* You took all the key nutrients proven in clinical studies to be effective for cardiovascular health
* Digestive health
* Hormonal health
* Key organ health including the brain
* And included selected enzymes and immunity enhancing herbal extracts
* Used the latest scientific knowledge of synergy and metabolic pathways to magnify the effects of the individual substances and you put them all into a capsule or tablet?

I know the answer because we have done just this when we produced Total Balance which was developed firstly for the protection of my own family and secondly for the benefit of our customers world-wide. But... I can't tell you what I believe is the answer because I would get into trouble with the authorities as it is not proven as yet by clinical trials. Instead we can only relate to clinical studies that have been carried out on the individual nutrients that we use.

But... I can leave it to your imagination. To help your iagination whilst pondering on this I can tell you that multi-vitamin products are very weak (but they are inexpensive).

Other vitamin like products such as the quite common alpha lipoic acid are many more times potent that common vitamins. Same thing applies to some of the other amino acids, herbal extracts and enzymes.

I've related to you the results of the studies from a just a few vitamins and one mineral. I think that you would get the picture and understand what I am getting at if you studied the ingredient list of Total Balance.

The efficacy of the Total Balance formula for overall health is not just a few times greater than a typical multi, but hundreds of time more potent. This is not an idle comment but one based on science.

It is important to aim to enter your latter years free from the negative effects of pharmaceutical drugs. It is never too soon to start your prevention program!

About the author:
Warren Matthews is the Chairman of Xtend Life Natural Products, designer and manufacturer of Total Balance, a highly advanced supplement designed to provide complete immune support. Total Balance is the worlds first multi-nutrient supplement featuring an enteric coating. This unique coating allows your body to absorb virtually 100% of it's 74 nutrients.
Available at ... http://www.InstantEnergyBoost.com
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Aspirin May Prevent Colon Cancer in Women

A recent study showed that taking aspirin could in fact reduce your risk of getting colon cancer. Although the study only involved data taking from a sampling of women, it appears that aspirin may possibly prevent colon cancer, or so they say? Aspirin is over 100-years old and appears to cure lots of things, yet many were shocked to learn of this latest finding, still other completely doubt the study.

A recent study showed that taking aspirin could in fact reduce your risk of getting colon cancer. Although the study only involved data taking from a sampling of women, it appears that aspirin may possibly prevent colon cancer, or so they say? Aspirin is over 100-years old and appears to cure lots of things, yet many were shocked to learn of this latest finding, still other completely doubt the study. The study showed that people who already had polyps maybe able to prevent the onset of colon cancer thru regular use of aspirin. The researchers went on to extrapolate that it could help those without polyps from getting one in the first place.

Now several articles in major Medical Journals are showing that if you took aspirin for a decade 1-2 per week, it would reduce the risk of colorectal cancer by a large margin over those who did not take aspirin regularly. Some of the researchers in near by fields were not surprised while other totally doubted the findings as hogwash. They are saying that any anti-inflammatory drug may have done the same and would certainly help to keep removed polyps from returning, thus reduce the risk of cancer. The study indicated that 14 aspirins per week or 2 every day would reduce the chances of colon cancer by nearly one-third. Those who took even more are said to reduce colon cancer by over 50 percentiles. Of course taking that many aspirins is not good for you, over use of aspirin can cause bleeding. So although the study appears to be a wash for many belief systems of cancer researchers, the evidence is notable and very telling. All this research is helping us fight some of the more serious forms of cancer killers. Think on this and live strong.

About the Author:
"Lance Winslow" - If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs
Submitted on 2005-10-05
Article Source: http://www.articlesarea.com/

Prostate Cancer Symptoms

The prostrate is a walnut-sized gland found only in males. It surrounds the urethra near the neck of the bladder, in front of the rectum. It secretes seminal fluid to nourish the sperm, and ejects it during ejaculation. We know the prostrate less for its role in the reproductive system than for the problem it creates in the form of prostrate cancer. One in six American males gets prostrate cancer, and one in thirty-two dies of it. It is the second most fatal cancer after lung cancer. The onset of cancer starts as the person ages, and blacks are more prone to it than whites. It runs in the family, though no specific genes have been isolated. The peak incidence of cancer starts in the age group of 65-75.

Prostrate cancer progresses very slowly in most cases, and does not have any specific symptoms during its early stages. Most of the time it is detected during a simple medical inspection by a Digital Rectal Exam (DRE), which prompts further investigations to confirm cancer.

As the cancer progresses, the gland throttles the urethra, which causes the first symptoms. The frequency of urination increases and it is very weak. There is burning pain during urination, and some traces of blood can be seen. There is a sensation of inadequate emptying of the bladder. Impotence or painful ejaculations are other important symptoms. As stage three of the cancer starts, it spreads to the adjoining area. Prostrate cancer cells attack the bones as they advance. A deep bone pain in the legs, hip and backbone should alert the patient about the possibility of this disease. When it reaches stage four, the cancer cells are transported by the lymphatic system and bloodstream and create secondary tumors in the lymphatic nodes, called metastatic prostrate cancer.

Diagnosing prostrate cancer is done in stages. When DRE needs further investigation a Prostrate Specific Antigen (PSA) test is done, which indicates the possibility of cancer. A biopsy done using a number of samples from different areas of the prostrate should confirm the presence of cancer. The treatment options are radical prostatectomy, radiation therapy and hormone therapy. But, as most of the patients are old and the progress of the disease is slow, many men opt to wait, observe and seek only symptomatic relief.

About the Author:
Seth Miller
Prostate Cancer Symptoms provides detailed information on Prostate Cancer, Prostate Cancer Symptoms, Prostate Cancer Treatments, Prostate Cancer Causes and more. Prostate Cancer Symptoms is affiliated with Prostate Health.
Added: Tue Apr 18 2006
To find other free health content see e-healtharticles.com

Prostate Cancer - What Every Man Needs to Know

Prostate cancer is one of the most common types of cancers in men. Prostate cancer is often found in elder men and the risk of prostate cancer increases with age. It occurs mostly among the male population of 50 years and above. In prostate cancer, cancerous cells are primary formed in the prostate that then gets transferred to other cells through the process of metastasis. Prostate cancer spreads to other parts of your body like bones.

Causes of Prostate Cancer:

Scientists still do not know the exact cause behind prostate cancer. No one knows why some people suffer with prostate cancer while others do not. Clinical researchers and scientists are working hard to find the answer of this basic question. However they are optimistic to come out with a ‘prostate cancer cause’ report very soon.

Prostate Cancer Symptoms:

There are no definite prostate cancer symptoms that can be easily noticed by the patients. Prostate cancer does not show any cancer symptom or sign at the initial stage. However, few prostate cancer symptoms have been identified by the National Cancer Institute .

These specific prostate cancer symptoms are given below:
1) Frequent urination.
2) An interrupted or weak urine flow.
3) Trouble while urination.
4) Sensation of pain while ejaculation.
5) Inability to urinate.
6) Burning sensation or pain during urination.
7) Blood in the urine or in the semen.
8) Stiffness or frequent pain in the upper thighs, lower back or hips.

These symptoms are however, not specific for prostate cancer. Therefore if you experience any of these symptoms, don’t panic- just consult a doctor.
Prostate cancer treatment: Treatment of prostate cancer depends upon factors such as the location of the tumor, general health condition of the patient, age of the patient and size of the tumor.
Prostate cancer can be treated with help of following treatment methods.

1) Surgical castration by orchidectomy: the cheapest and simplest prostate cancer treatment is orchidectomy. The only disadvantage is a psychological effect of the loss of testicles.
2) Prostate cancer can be treated with the help of oestrogen hormone and LHRH-analogues. This is a "medical castration." This prostate cancer treatment is very expensive. Oestrogen can be taken orally but oestrogen prostate cancer treatment can give rise to thrombotic complications.
3) Hormone therapy can also be used as prostate cancer cure.
4) The chemical found in black pepper, which causes the tongue to burn, sweat to pout out and eyes to water commonly called as capsaicin is thought to be helpful in prostate cancer cure. US researchers have found that capsaicin can cause human cancer cells to kill themselves. This study is guiding to the way for a new prostate cancer cure.
5) Radiotherapy can also be used for prostate cancer cure. Radiotherapy just destroys cancer cells by radiation. The method is absolutely painless. But treatment of prostate cancer with the help of radiotherapy can cause some side effects like impotence and diarrhea.
6) Brachytherapy can also be applied to cure prostate cancer. Here radioactive elements inhibit the growth of prostate cancer cells.

About the Author:
Tyson J Stevenson creates useful articles & reviews on a wide variety of everyday subjects. Expect to see his name often. View further samples of his work at HubbuH or at Prostate Cancer Symptom
Article Source: http://www.articles2k.com

Ovarian Cancer

The most deadly cancers to which most women are prey is the ovarian cancer. This type of cancer is however very rare but its overall chances of development are 1 out of every 100 as compared to the breast cancer that holds a ratio of 1 out of 9. The group that is most prone to this cancer is the age group of 50 and 60's.

Symptoms of ovarian cancer
Since ovarian cancer shows any symptoms in the initial stage it is the most deadly cancer found. The problem is enhanced because of the fact that ovaries are located deep within the abdomen and there is no way out to self examine on a regular basis as it much possible in the case of breasts. The disease also produce symptoms that are often confusing and could also signal to other conditions.

Frequent symptoms of ovarian cancer are vague stomach discomfort, an expanded abdomen or even abnormal bleeding. Many women face these types of symptoms either throughout their lives and they make the mistake of not informing to their physicians. And by the time they feel it necessary to inform their physician, the tumor grows to an extent that it has spread too far to stop.

Even when your physician finds an ovarian mass, it does not always mean that there is a risk of cancer. The higher majority of ovarian masses detected in pre menopausal patients are benign and disappear as time passes by.

Greater risk
With most of the cancers, doctors don't know exactly what causes the growth of cancerous ovarian cells. Current theory states that a number of factors of which some are controllable and some are not influence the development of ovarian cancer. One proposal also suggests that there is a link in between the number of times a women ovulates during her life and her risk of developing ovarian cancer.

The factors that contribute to the risk of ovarian cancer includes ovulation for more than 40 years, women who have never being pregnant or have the first pregnancy after the age of 30 or late menopause.

Other factor that is unrelated to ovulation but ought to increase the risk of ovarian cancer includes:
1. A family history of ovarian or uterine cancer
2. Having breast cancer or benign breast cancer
3. Having colon or rectal cancer or polyps

Stages of ovarian cancer
If your physician makes a diagnosis of ovarian cancer, he or she will make categorize it as one of the 4 stages of the disease whereby stage 1 is the earliest stage in which only the ovaries are involved. Stage 2 involves spread of the cancer from the ovary to other parts of the pelvis. The cases that are diagnosed after stage 3 are the least. The most advanced stage of ovarian cancer is the stage 4 that has least chances of survival.

For further details, visit our recommended website womensreproductivehealth.info

About the Author:
Olivia Andrews, writer of womensreproductivehealth.info is a freelance journalist and has written many reviews on subjects such as finance, education, health, entertainment, music, gifts, crafts, travel, apparels and mobile phones.
Added: 07 Jul 2006
Article Source: http://articles.simplysearch4it.com/article/31224.html